I would like to post about how the President's tax plan is nothing more than a tax-break for the filthy rich.
I would like to post about how even George Bush wrapped up all other pending business in the wake of Katrina so that he could focus on disaster.
I would like to criticize those who asked "Where was Obama during Katrina." In Chicago, you morons. He wasn't President.
Instead, I'd like to point you to a charity I believe in, the J.J. Watt Foundation.
Sometimes professional sports players exceed all expectations. Michael Strahan used to build playgrounds for kids in need on HGTV before he left the Giants for his Fox/GMA career. Brandon Marshall started Project Borderline to support people with personality disorders. Jay Cutler's foundation helps treat children with Type 1 Diabetes. The Drew Brees Foundation helps children with pediatric cancer. And J.J. Watt's Foundation was to help develop life skills for middle-school students in athletic programs. That was, until Harvey.
Now J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans has set up a Houston Flood Relief Fund through YouCaring.org. Initially, he was looking to crowd-fund $1 million. When they hit that, he asked for $5 million. The Houston Texans jumped in with a $1 Million contribution, making the $5 seem like it was possible. They blew by the $5 million mark, so they raised the stakes to $6. Blew by that number, and then Ellen DeGeneres and Walmart dumped another Million into the bucket. The goal is now up to $10,000,000...and in a matter of hours, they will hit that number as well.
As of this writing, they're up to $9,982,673.
The thing is, with this President and his bluster, you don't know if he means it when he promises aid to Texas and Louisiana. The man is filled with empty promises and bravado. As his overall budget plans to gut FEMA and other flood-response agencies, it's hard to believe that adequate help will come to the people who need it most. And these people can't wait.
You don't need to donate to the J.J. Watt foundation to make an impact. There are plenty of other charities that will try to help get the victims of Harvey back on their feet. Find one. Donate. The people on the ground, the volunteers and the professionals helping, all need to eat. Food isn't free. Medicine isn't free. Transporting livestock and pets out of the flood area isn't free. Gas isn't free.
$10 million will be a drop in the bucket, and like Ike and Katrina before it, Harvey will have extremely long-lasting effects on the communities it's ruined. Please consider contributing, and if you have the time, visit Houston and Louisiana to help those communities that need it most.
https://www.youcaring.com/victimsofhurricaneharvey-915053
P.S. Since starting to write this, they blew past the $10,000,000 mark. Do your part to help them shatter the next goal.
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Pipe Dreams and Nightmares
It's easy to pick on our President. Lately, it's been his white-supremacy undertones (overtones?) that we've been able to easily key in on. But, I'd like to remind you that before he was being anti-Semitic and racist...he was bashing the indigenous peoples of North Dakota.
“I’m pleased to announce that the Dakota Access Pipeline … is now officially open for business, a $3.8 billion investment in American infrastructure that was stalled and nobody thought any politician would have the guts to approve that final leg,” President Dump said.
“I just close my eyes and said ‘do it.'”
The action (and description of the action) was moronic on many levels. First, as previously explained, this was less an action of Trump and more of U.S. environmental process in action. The Army Corps of Engineers did an environmental analysis with several alternatives and chose a route which had the fewest impacts to cultural and environmental resources...AND, Obama's EPA approved it.
However, for those of us paying attention, a judge, on June 14 of this year, "has ruled that permits authorized by the Trump administration to fast-track the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline violated the law." In a 91-page ruling, the court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers “did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly controversial.”
Duh, that's what the peaceful protesters said. You remember them, right? The Native Americans who rallied on Federal land without firearms (albeit without permits) to bring to light the potential consequences of a spill on cultural (read: people, fishing, etc.) and environmental resources down-stream.
This is a bit after the fact, though, as pumping had begun several weeks before this decision. A request by the Tribes to halt pumping while this was being considered was denied. To make things more bitter, a counter-suit was filed in Federal court against the protesters. Shooting them with rubber bullets and water canons wasn't enough. "Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, listed the lawsuit's defendants as Greenpeace International, Earth First!, BankTrack, and other organizations and individuals." They're claiming eco-terrorism. To say the suit is punitive is an understatement. Regardless of the outcome, Energy Transfer Partners wasn't being held back for completion by the protestors...it was held back by Obama. Secondly, they got their wish through Trump and completed the pipeline, and began pumping oil into it. Third, who paid for the enforcement (i.e. shooting innocent people) at Standing Rock? Why, the good people of North Dakota did, to the tune of $38 million...and, according to their whining to the Feds, they're only asking that they be reimbursed $14 million by the Federal Government. Trump's administration approved $10 million, to make them go away. We'll see if that works.
What's next? Based on the judge's decision, there needs to be public input/comments into the allegations that President Small Hands' maneuver was, in fact, illegal and didn't consider the down-stream impacts of a spill. That public meeting has already been delayed at the request of Energy Transfer Partners who may or may not have also removed too many trees and improperly handled contaminated soil, thereby violating State Law. Also, at issue is another security firm is being sued for providing "security services" (read: mercenary enforcement against protesters). They're looking to get it thrown out claiming that they only provided consulting. B.S. There's video everywhere, and this time it is the State of North Dakota bringing the charges against a firm not licensed to do business of that sort in the State.
So, a muddy picture of how this moves forward. It's possible and likely that all of this is frivolous and that the pipeline will continue to pump oil until a severe accident occurs, which will likely get swept under the carpet by an administration who picks and chooses the environmental facts that best suit its purpose. It will impact some of the poorest people in the United States, practically confined to the Reservation. The only black and white outcome from this is that, if DAPL continues to operate, there's only one real winner, and that's Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer who tripled his net worth at the stroke of Trump's pen.
I'm beginning to feel like I need to keep a list akin to Arya's from Game of Thrones, of things we have to remember to undo once Agent Orange has left the building. But, it's clear that we need to pay attention to the successes and failures of opposing this project along with the President's apparent bigotry, the raping our National Monuments for fossil fuel reclamation, climate change, and, of course Russian interference in our political processes. I realize that equates to many sticks in the fire, but if we don't mind them all, our culture, our environment and our democracy may burn down around us.
“I’m pleased to announce that the Dakota Access Pipeline … is now officially open for business, a $3.8 billion investment in American infrastructure that was stalled and nobody thought any politician would have the guts to approve that final leg,” President Dump said.
“I just close my eyes and said ‘do it.'”
The action (and description of the action) was moronic on many levels. First, as previously explained, this was less an action of Trump and more of U.S. environmental process in action. The Army Corps of Engineers did an environmental analysis with several alternatives and chose a route which had the fewest impacts to cultural and environmental resources...AND, Obama's EPA approved it.
However, for those of us paying attention, a judge, on June 14 of this year, "has ruled that permits authorized by the Trump administration to fast-track the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline violated the law." In a 91-page ruling, the court ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers “did not adequately consider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likely to be highly controversial.”
Duh, that's what the peaceful protesters said. You remember them, right? The Native Americans who rallied on Federal land without firearms (albeit without permits) to bring to light the potential consequences of a spill on cultural (read: people, fishing, etc.) and environmental resources down-stream.
This is a bit after the fact, though, as pumping had begun several weeks before this decision. A request by the Tribes to halt pumping while this was being considered was denied. To make things more bitter, a counter-suit was filed in Federal court against the protesters. Shooting them with rubber bullets and water canons wasn't enough. "Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, Texas, listed the lawsuit's defendants as Greenpeace International, Earth First!, BankTrack, and other organizations and individuals." They're claiming eco-terrorism. To say the suit is punitive is an understatement. Regardless of the outcome, Energy Transfer Partners wasn't being held back for completion by the protestors...it was held back by Obama. Secondly, they got their wish through Trump and completed the pipeline, and began pumping oil into it. Third, who paid for the enforcement (i.e. shooting innocent people) at Standing Rock? Why, the good people of North Dakota did, to the tune of $38 million...and, according to their whining to the Feds, they're only asking that they be reimbursed $14 million by the Federal Government. Trump's administration approved $10 million, to make them go away. We'll see if that works.
What's next? Based on the judge's decision, there needs to be public input/comments into the allegations that President Small Hands' maneuver was, in fact, illegal and didn't consider the down-stream impacts of a spill. That public meeting has already been delayed at the request of Energy Transfer Partners who may or may not have also removed too many trees and improperly handled contaminated soil, thereby violating State Law. Also, at issue is another security firm is being sued for providing "security services" (read: mercenary enforcement against protesters). They're looking to get it thrown out claiming that they only provided consulting. B.S. There's video everywhere, and this time it is the State of North Dakota bringing the charges against a firm not licensed to do business of that sort in the State.
So, a muddy picture of how this moves forward. It's possible and likely that all of this is frivolous and that the pipeline will continue to pump oil until a severe accident occurs, which will likely get swept under the carpet by an administration who picks and chooses the environmental facts that best suit its purpose. It will impact some of the poorest people in the United States, practically confined to the Reservation. The only black and white outcome from this is that, if DAPL continues to operate, there's only one real winner, and that's Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer who tripled his net worth at the stroke of Trump's pen.
I'm beginning to feel like I need to keep a list akin to Arya's from Game of Thrones, of things we have to remember to undo once Agent Orange has left the building. But, it's clear that we need to pay attention to the successes and failures of opposing this project along with the President's apparent bigotry, the raping our National Monuments for fossil fuel reclamation, climate change, and, of course Russian interference in our political processes. I realize that equates to many sticks in the fire, but if we don't mind them all, our culture, our environment and our democracy may burn down around us.
Thursday, August 17, 2017
Charity and Action
To be fair, I didn't want to go.
My wife's father co-organizes a group from his synagogue to go, each month, to staff and supply a soup kitchen using donations from congregants. They go the second Saturday of each month, and he had asked Sara to go and to bring Jude. At the time, we didn't have any conflicts, and she was set to go. That was, until she all of a sudden had a conflict and asked me to step in, bring Jude and go.
In our relationship, it's my job to temper expectations of all we can get done in one Saturday and one Sunday. Mentally, I had filled the time she and Jude were expected to be away with quiet alone time with Johanna. Maybe, based on the weather, a trip to the playground, but super low-key. Now she was taking Jojo to an event and I was thrust into taking Jude to a parish in Orange, NJ to help out.
Needless to say, after much griping, I got over my bullshit laziness quickly. It was clearly the right thing to do, which didn't matter because I was irritated at having my weekend dictated to me. We don't volunteer as much as we should (but we talk a big game), and it would be great for Jude, as my father-in-law reminded us, to see and help people who needed help.
As soon as we got there around 11am we started helping in the kitchen, getting desserts plated and making sure hot food was warm, being warmed, or being cooked. Slowly, more and more congregants from the synagogue showed up to help, and a line started forming outside by those people looking to come and eat. The congregation prepared quite a spread of (mostly) healthy foods including some lovely salads, rotisserie chicken, meatballs, veggie medley, pasta, bread and a light dessert comprised of cookies.
When the doors opened at noon, we had a steady stream for about an hour and a half of people of all ages and nationalities. It was mostly single adults, but occasionally, there would be a mom and her kids, dad and his kids, or just a teenager alone. I was on chicken duty and Jude was in charge of bread. As I watched him, he did his job like a champ and with no adult help. He didn't flinch away from people, even those with fewer teeth than him, or those who smelled differently. He greeted everyone, and allowed them to tell him what it was they wanted...and then he gave it to them.
He and I estimated that we served more than 100 people that morning. He never questioned why we were giving them food. He understood that this is what we do: they were hungry and we helped with feeding them. That was it. This is what you do. There was no talk about race. There was no talk about why they were less fortunate or why they needed to come to the church. They were hungry so we fed them. I wish my mind was so accepting. I have prejudice. As I saw them, I insisted that the mother with twin little girls take more food because the three of them were thin. While they weren't necessarily supposed to come back for seconds, we had more than enough, and I definitely doubled up on portions for those who asked, even some who didn't. A girl, who came by herself and couldn't have been older than 11 or 12 came without the voucher to eat. When we asked for it, she turned around as if to leave. We quickly called after her and insisted she make a plate. That's why we were there. She came back again to make a plate to take with her, and we made sure she had enough before we let her go. It's just the right thing to do.
After we were all done, my father-in-law, sister-in-law, Jude and I went out to get a bite to eat at the Millburn Deli, just 20 minutes away from Orange. It couldn't have been a more stark contrast to what we had just been doing. I don't think it hit Jude as much as it hit me, but we had just gone from the extreme have-nots to the extreme haves in the blink of an eye. How many of these people donate...anything? Who thinks about the fact that we are so geographically close to such poverty, yet we hardly ever see it.
I am a privileged white male who grew up in an middle-class house with food always on my table, clothes to wear and luxury items like CDs and stereo equipment and computers and the Internet...and books. Yet, I'm no different than the people we helped. I know some of them work, maybe most of them. I know they're trying because they made a conscious decision to get help that morning.
The bigger question is, are we trying? Are you trying? It cost my family $15 in vegetables and 3 hours of time. Do you have that? What have you donated last? When was that? Could you do a little more? My excuse for not wanting to go was complete and utter laziness. Facebook this week is filled with posts about racial equality and denouncing hate. Posts don't do shit. Praying doesn't do shit. Put your time and money where your mouth is, and donate the clothes that don't fit. Go give blood. Go help at a soup kitchen. Volunteer at an animal shelter or rehab. Become a better steward of this earth and its inhabitants...and do it at a meager $15 and/or 3 hours per month.
If you're reading this on FaceBook, I know you have time to burn and money to blow. Why not do it responsibly. While I don't know if we'll go every second Saturday, I'm fairly certain that we'll go again. There is no shortage of people who need help, and we (you included) are uniquely capable of helping.
My wife's father co-organizes a group from his synagogue to go, each month, to staff and supply a soup kitchen using donations from congregants. They go the second Saturday of each month, and he had asked Sara to go and to bring Jude. At the time, we didn't have any conflicts, and she was set to go. That was, until she all of a sudden had a conflict and asked me to step in, bring Jude and go.
In our relationship, it's my job to temper expectations of all we can get done in one Saturday and one Sunday. Mentally, I had filled the time she and Jude were expected to be away with quiet alone time with Johanna. Maybe, based on the weather, a trip to the playground, but super low-key. Now she was taking Jojo to an event and I was thrust into taking Jude to a parish in Orange, NJ to help out.
Needless to say, after much griping, I got over my bullshit laziness quickly. It was clearly the right thing to do, which didn't matter because I was irritated at having my weekend dictated to me. We don't volunteer as much as we should (but we talk a big game), and it would be great for Jude, as my father-in-law reminded us, to see and help people who needed help.
As soon as we got there around 11am we started helping in the kitchen, getting desserts plated and making sure hot food was warm, being warmed, or being cooked. Slowly, more and more congregants from the synagogue showed up to help, and a line started forming outside by those people looking to come and eat. The congregation prepared quite a spread of (mostly) healthy foods including some lovely salads, rotisserie chicken, meatballs, veggie medley, pasta, bread and a light dessert comprised of cookies.
When the doors opened at noon, we had a steady stream for about an hour and a half of people of all ages and nationalities. It was mostly single adults, but occasionally, there would be a mom and her kids, dad and his kids, or just a teenager alone. I was on chicken duty and Jude was in charge of bread. As I watched him, he did his job like a champ and with no adult help. He didn't flinch away from people, even those with fewer teeth than him, or those who smelled differently. He greeted everyone, and allowed them to tell him what it was they wanted...and then he gave it to them.
He and I estimated that we served more than 100 people that morning. He never questioned why we were giving them food. He understood that this is what we do: they were hungry and we helped with feeding them. That was it. This is what you do. There was no talk about race. There was no talk about why they were less fortunate or why they needed to come to the church. They were hungry so we fed them. I wish my mind was so accepting. I have prejudice. As I saw them, I insisted that the mother with twin little girls take more food because the three of them were thin. While they weren't necessarily supposed to come back for seconds, we had more than enough, and I definitely doubled up on portions for those who asked, even some who didn't. A girl, who came by herself and couldn't have been older than 11 or 12 came without the voucher to eat. When we asked for it, she turned around as if to leave. We quickly called after her and insisted she make a plate. That's why we were there. She came back again to make a plate to take with her, and we made sure she had enough before we let her go. It's just the right thing to do.
After we were all done, my father-in-law, sister-in-law, Jude and I went out to get a bite to eat at the Millburn Deli, just 20 minutes away from Orange. It couldn't have been a more stark contrast to what we had just been doing. I don't think it hit Jude as much as it hit me, but we had just gone from the extreme have-nots to the extreme haves in the blink of an eye. How many of these people donate...anything? Who thinks about the fact that we are so geographically close to such poverty, yet we hardly ever see it.
I am a privileged white male who grew up in an middle-class house with food always on my table, clothes to wear and luxury items like CDs and stereo equipment and computers and the Internet...and books. Yet, I'm no different than the people we helped. I know some of them work, maybe most of them. I know they're trying because they made a conscious decision to get help that morning.
The bigger question is, are we trying? Are you trying? It cost my family $15 in vegetables and 3 hours of time. Do you have that? What have you donated last? When was that? Could you do a little more? My excuse for not wanting to go was complete and utter laziness. Facebook this week is filled with posts about racial equality and denouncing hate. Posts don't do shit. Praying doesn't do shit. Put your time and money where your mouth is, and donate the clothes that don't fit. Go give blood. Go help at a soup kitchen. Volunteer at an animal shelter or rehab. Become a better steward of this earth and its inhabitants...and do it at a meager $15 and/or 3 hours per month.
If you're reading this on FaceBook, I know you have time to burn and money to blow. Why not do it responsibly. While I don't know if we'll go every second Saturday, I'm fairly certain that we'll go again. There is no shortage of people who need help, and we (you included) are uniquely capable of helping.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Simply Orange
Another short blog today, this one about the President. And, I think I have him figured out. This week, unless you live in a cave, you've heard the President threaten (multiple times) North Korea. It's been a literal war of words between the Trump White House and Pyongyang.
“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Questions by the media in subsequent interviews, from Bedminster, NJ, yielded nearly no specifics or definitive answers. What does he mean? "You'll see," was the response. "North Korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble, like few nations have ever been in trouble in this world."
Really? Are you scolding Barron or Eric or Donald Jr.? Is North Korea going to have to go to their room to think about what they did, and they're definitely not getting dessert tonight.
Sorry, mom, when I was 9, you threatened me much like the President is doing to grown-ups of a foreign nation.
And that's what I understand. NPR is in Iowa at their State Fair this week, interviewing citizens about their appreciation for the President now that he's done nothing but sign legislation penalizing Russia, something that I'm sure pained him greatly.
"I support him still. He's doing everything he says he'd do. He's definitely a common-man president."
Add to the previous statement a slight mid-west/southern accent, and there you have it: the reason why Trump is still polling well in the mid-US. He's like them. Say what you want about his level of intelligence, he's speaking in such layman's terms, that it's laughable, but he's understood universally. Why? His use of language is so "very very" basic and without imagination. He rants seem childish. His use of short words goes beyond his affinity for Twitter. He throws in statements about "bad hombres" and "they're going to be sorry" and phrases you wouldn't even belittle your kids with, or use in a middle-school term paper.
In short, the man is simple, which also, if you were sick of the old regime, is refreshing. Here's a guy, who's just trying to do his job, and the bad media is making it hard for him. He talks like us. All he wants to do is work, and they keep digging up stories about what he may have done. Can't they just let him be?
We on the coasts (including the Great Lakes) frequently forget that, in addition to the highest costs of living, we are also some of the most educated citizens, including those who don't have a degree. Why? Due to ports, not only do we live at a higher density (more people), but also greater ethnic diversity. Our world views are bigger. Even if that just means that you overheard someone speaking another language on the subway platform, its a global awareness that someone without a similar living environment doesn't have.
And ignorance breeds fear. And Trump is still selling that fear. And he has buyers of his rhetoric. How do you combat that? Not with fancy graphics or detailed reports about how climate change is real, or how mexicans aren't stealing your jobs (Want to pick crops? You're desperately needed in California). I don't have the answer, but if we want to be able to reach certain Trump voters, we need to start at the lowest common denominator, which he is lowering daily, and try to make connections with the people who sympathize with him most.
“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Questions by the media in subsequent interviews, from Bedminster, NJ, yielded nearly no specifics or definitive answers. What does he mean? "You'll see," was the response. "North Korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble, like few nations have ever been in trouble in this world."
Really? Are you scolding Barron or Eric or Donald Jr.? Is North Korea going to have to go to their room to think about what they did, and they're definitely not getting dessert tonight.
Sorry, mom, when I was 9, you threatened me much like the President is doing to grown-ups of a foreign nation.
And that's what I understand. NPR is in Iowa at their State Fair this week, interviewing citizens about their appreciation for the President now that he's done nothing but sign legislation penalizing Russia, something that I'm sure pained him greatly.
"I support him still. He's doing everything he says he'd do. He's definitely a common-man president."
Add to the previous statement a slight mid-west/southern accent, and there you have it: the reason why Trump is still polling well in the mid-US. He's like them. Say what you want about his level of intelligence, he's speaking in such layman's terms, that it's laughable, but he's understood universally. Why? His use of language is so "very very" basic and without imagination. He rants seem childish. His use of short words goes beyond his affinity for Twitter. He throws in statements about "bad hombres" and "they're going to be sorry" and phrases you wouldn't even belittle your kids with, or use in a middle-school term paper.
In short, the man is simple, which also, if you were sick of the old regime, is refreshing. Here's a guy, who's just trying to do his job, and the bad media is making it hard for him. He talks like us. All he wants to do is work, and they keep digging up stories about what he may have done. Can't they just let him be?
We on the coasts (including the Great Lakes) frequently forget that, in addition to the highest costs of living, we are also some of the most educated citizens, including those who don't have a degree. Why? Due to ports, not only do we live at a higher density (more people), but also greater ethnic diversity. Our world views are bigger. Even if that just means that you overheard someone speaking another language on the subway platform, its a global awareness that someone without a similar living environment doesn't have.
And ignorance breeds fear. And Trump is still selling that fear. And he has buyers of his rhetoric. How do you combat that? Not with fancy graphics or detailed reports about how climate change is real, or how mexicans aren't stealing your jobs (Want to pick crops? You're desperately needed in California). I don't have the answer, but if we want to be able to reach certain Trump voters, we need to start at the lowest common denominator, which he is lowering daily, and try to make connections with the people who sympathize with him most.
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